Ezekiel Elliott held out last summer in hopes of landing a lucrative long-term deal with the Dallas Cowboys. Eventually, he got his wish and signed a six-year, $90 million dollar deal just days before the season opener. He was very productive once again in 2019 with 1,357 rushing yards and 12 rushing touchdowns, both ranking fourth league-wide. Also, his 1,777 all-purpose yards ranked second and his seven 100-yard games were tied for first.
However, the former two-time rushing champ feels that wasn’t good enough for his liking and admits that a lack of training camp slowed the start of his 2019 campaign.
“I think it did take me a little bit,” Elliott said per Charean Williams of Pro Football Talk. “I mean, I’m just a football player. I think I was ready. It’s definitely going to be better to have the training camp this year, just to make sure I’m rolling Week One.”
In his first three seasons, Elliott never averaged less than 95 yards per game but that number dropped to 85 yards last season. With high expectations for himself, Elliott feels he needs to bounce back in 2020.
“I think I do have a lot to prove,” Elliott said. “I have high expectations of myself. It’s not something you go enforce. You just go grind, go to work every day and let it happen.”
The Cowboys were very lethal in the passing game last season. Dak Prescott nearly set a franchise record with 4,902 yards and Amari Cooper and Michael Gallup each went over 1,100 yards. The addition of rookie sensation CeeDee Lamb will make it hard for defenses to lock in on Elliott which could see his numbers increase quite a bit this season. However, Elliot has a much bigger goal in mind in 2020.
“My individual goals are just win a Super Bowl. We have a great team,” Elliott said. “This is our time. That’s all of our goals. Just win a Super Bowl and everything else is going to fall in place after that.”
A highly motivated Elliott is potentially a nightmare for opposing defenses and could take the Cowboys offense to another level when paired with its dynamic aerial assault. Get your popcorn ready.
